Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
Thoroughly study your notes / annotated
copies of all six poems:
War Photographer
 Originally
 Anne Hathaway
 Havisham
 Valentine
 Mrs Midas
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Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
Three of the six poems are written in persona of the
wives/women ‘behind’ their (possibly better known)
men:
 Anne Hathaway: wife of William Shakespeare (persona
of real, historical character)
 Havisham: jilted bride of Mr Compeyson in Dickens’
novel Great Expectations (persona of fictional character)
 Mrs Midas: wife of King Midas in Greek mythology
(persona of fictional mythological character)
Duffy offers a female perspective as these personae reflect
on their relationships with these men.
Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
Shakespeare’s widow Anne Hathaway reflects
fondly on precious memories of a happy,
passionate marriage in which she sees herself
integral to husband’s creativity and career as
dramatist.
 Jilted bride Miss Havisham – widow, in a sense,
as former fiance dies later in novel - reflects
bitterly, vengefully on ruination of her life, hopes
of being a wife, etc.
 Presumably now widow, since husband last seen
emaciated and hallucinating through starvation,
King Midas’ wife reflects wryly, bitterly on
husband’s folly, greed and selfishness that
ruined their marriage and her hopes of having a
baby.
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Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
As well as three poems – Anne Hathaway, Havisham, Mrs
Midas - written in persona, therefore in first person,
other poems dealing with reflection on past are:
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War Photographer – written in third person,
showing photographer, reflecting with delayed
shock after returning home to England, on
experiences of working, taking pictures,
capturing horrific images, in war zones around
the world.
 Originally – written in first person, from poet’s
own perspective, reflecting resignedly on
inevitability of change in process of growing up
and identity loss after moving away from place
of origin and settling elsewhere.
Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
Key ideas: four of the six poems deal with the theme of love.
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Anne Hathaway portrays love that is mutual, passionate,
fulfilling: “spinning world…shooting stars…drama…”
 Mrs Midas portrays love that was mutual and passionate
but ruined by husband’s “idiocy…greed…selfishness” and
is unfulfilling by ending their sex life and preventing her
from having the baby she longed for.
 Havisham portrays love that has been ruined by the
fiance jilting the bride, turning love to festering, vengeful
hatred.
 Valentine pragmatically portrays love that is initially
mutual, passionate, but shows it can be ruined in time
by infidelity or destroyed by possessiveness which
becomes dangerous, “Lethal” to relationships.
Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
Key ideas: four of the six poems deal with the idea of marriage.
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Anne Hathaway is about a happy marriage, an equal
partnership, ended only by widowhood, leaving happy
memories.
 Valentine suggests that marriage is optional; “platinum
loops shrink to a wedding ring” hints marriage is perhaps
too possessive, constricting.
 Mrs Midas portrays a marriage that ends in separation
which the wife would not have wanted, due to the
unreasonable behaviour of her husband.
 Havisham is about a marriage called off at the last
moment and the devastating effect on the remainder of
the jilted bride’s life.
Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
Key ideas: four of the six poems deal with the idea of the
ending of relationships.
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Anne Hathaway shows a happy relationship brought to
an end only because of the death of Anne’s husband.
She treasures happy memories of their time together.
Valentine suggests relationships can bring unhappiness,
in some cases due to a partner being unfaithful, or
danger, in a partner’s extreme possessiveness, thereby
requiring someone to be cut out of another’s life.
Mrs Midas shows the unhappy demise of a relationship
due to a partner’s behaviour and presumably the death
of the husband.
Havisham shows much frustration over aspects of a
relationship and life with status as married woman
denied the bride by a relationship abruptly ended almost
before it had begun.
Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
Key ideas: five of the six poems deal with time and memory.
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War Photographer shows time bringing about delayed shock when
the developing photographs remind the photographer of the horrific
original experiences. His memories don’t fade over time. The
photographs preserve his memories.
Anne Hathaway shows memories of her time with her husband
being preserved, not fading, stored in the “casket” own mind as
Shakespeare’s body in his coffin.
Mrs Midas shows how certain insignificant things like sunlight or
apples can jolt her memory of her husband both at the time and
before the breakup of their marriage and bring back vivid
recollections that haven’t faded.
Havisham shows how time can prevent memories from fading: over
time the wedding dress has yellowed – ironically, a kind of fading and the wedding cake remained uneaten, not just jolting but
existing as constant reminders of an unhappy event.
Originally shows time bringing about identity loss due to gradual
assimilation into, homogeneity with, a new community. Her
memories of Glasgow gradually fade over time, a change that
causes some guilt.
Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
Key ideas: all of the poems deal with the theme of loss.
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In War Photographer, photographs document loss of life – children
presumably die in minefields; dead man whose wife assented to the
photograph being taken is described as a “ghost”. Also he “stares
impassively” at war zones he works in as if having lost power to be
shocked or moved.
In Anne Hathaway, widow speaks of lost husband.
In Havisham, jilted bride has lost fiance and all happiness and
fulfilment she expected in later years from marriage: status as wife,
experience of sex. She has lost youth and years of life, stagnating,
festering with hatred.
In Mrs Midas, wife speaks of lost marriage, lost physical closeness
with husband, lost opportunity to have baby.
In Originally, Duffy herself has lost her original home, accent, and
ultimately Scottish, Glaswegian identity.
In Valentine, it is shown that couples can lose fidelity and ultimately
relationships.
Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
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Key ideas: all poems except Anne Hathaway deal with idea of
destruction.
War Photographer deals with violent destruction of war: children
being victims of landmines, a husband dying in front of his wife,
blood soaking into ground.
Havisham deals with vengeful violence towards the fiance who jilted
bride: her desire to strangle, bite and stab. Her life, hopes, youth,
heart, have been destroyed by him and she longs to destroy him in
return.
Mrs Midas shows a marriage and potential family destroyed by
stupidity, greed and thoughtless selfishness of a husband.
In Valentine, possessiveness and infidelity can destroy relationships.
“Lethal” and “knife” suggest violent, wounding, hurtful ends to
relationships.
In Originally, Duffy’s memories of Glasgow as home, Glaswegian
accent, Scottish dialect, sense of identity are destroyed by moving
to England.
Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
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Key ideas: all poems except Anne Hathaway deal with idea of pain,
whether emotional or physical.
War Photographer deals with the physical and emotional pain of war
victims remembered and captured in pictures; idea of pain being on
a scale, comparing extreme pain suffered in war zones to “ordinary
pain”, trivial annoyances, of rural England; lack of pain felt by
Sunday supplement readers on seeing images of war; disguised pain
felt by photographer on returning to work in war zone.
Havisham deals with extreme emotional pain and heartbreak felt by
jilted bride; physical pain she imagines being able to inflict in
revenge.
Valentine suggests intense emotional pain, wounding caused by
break up of relationship.
Mrs Midas shows wife’s regretful emotional pain at a marriage so
needlessly, thoughtlessly ruined; husband’s physical pain during
starving to death, thin and hallucinating.
Originally shows Duffy’s family’s emotional pain – anxious parents,
crying brothers – at leaving familiarity of home; Duffy’s guilty pain
at eventually becoming assimilated in new surroundings.
Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
Key ideas: all poems deal with theme or idea of loneliness or solitude.
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War Photographer begins with photographer being “finally alone”,
having peace and solitude to develop pictures and deal with feelings
of shock about war zones he has experienced.
Valentine suggests that relationships eventually bring “grief”, are
not permanent fidelity lasts only up to a point, leading to break ups
which leave former partners alone.
Havisham shows a lonely spinster, abandoned by former fiance,
unable to move on with her life, imagining what she has lost, her
former love twisted to violent hatred.
Originally shows Duffy lonely at first moving to England where all is
unfamiliar and where “no one you know stays”.
Anne Hathaway shows a widow left alone but consoling herself with
precious memories of a happy life with husband.
Mrs Midas portrays both husband and wife lonely – he dying in
solitude in isolated caravan, she alone at home, missing him and
opportunity to be family with a baby.
Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
Structure: ways in which the construction of the poems reflect the
content of them.
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Valentine is written in free verse, seemingly
unstructured, rather than any conventional form or
pattern, in keeping with idea that love should not be
constricted by marriage or possessiveness.
 Havisham is written in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The
regularity of stanza pattern suggests social conformity of
marriage but unequal length of the lines, fact that many
are run-on lines and lack of any regular rhyme scheme
suggest random, irrational thoughts and feelings of
persona and her unconventional existence as perpetual
spinster amongst mouldering remains of wedding
paraphernalia.
Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
Structure: ways in which the construction of the poems reflect the
content of them.
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Mrs Midas is written in 11 stanzas of 6 unequal length
lines each and with no regular rhyme scheme. Poem is a
dramatic monologue and length of it reflects in how
much detail persona wants to confide in us. The irregular
line length and lack of rhyme make it sound like natural
speech, a friend telling all to a friend.
Originally is written in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. This
regularity suggests continuity of being Scottish despite
outward changes while lack of end rhyme suggests
changes, differences. Stanza 1 describes journey from
Glasgow; stanza initial isolation in England; stanza 3
assimilation and acceptance of change. Each stanza is a
stage in a progression, in keeping with progression of
growing up and changing described in poem.
Duffy Poetry National 5 Revision
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Structure: ways in which the construction of the poems reflect the
content of them.
War Photographer is written in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each, with
regular rhyme scheme of abbcdd pattern in every stanza, i.e: 2
tercets per stanza comprising single line unrhymed followed by
rhyming couplet. This very strict pattern, exactly repeated, suggests
every print from film exact replicas, every photograph exact record
of horrific events. Regularity of stanzas and rhyme scheme also
suggest orderliness of life at home in England in contrast to chaos
of war abroad.
Anne Hathaway is written in 14 lines, like sonnet traditionally
associated with love poetry, used extensively by Shakespeare – very
appropriate as poem is about love. Many lines traditional 10 syllable
length and iambic pentameter rhythm but not all and rhyme
scheme not exact, so does not conform precisely to sonnet form,
supporting Duffy’s view of Anne as not conforming to traditional
idea of her as illiterate, abandoned wife at home in Stratford while
Shakespeare pursuing career in London. Run-on lines between
quatrains suggest close connection and continuous flow of love
between couple. Final rhyming couplet used in Shakespearean style
makes emphatic, clinching conclusion to poem: declaration that she
hold on to treasured memories of him in same way as he treasured
her physically in life.